About Penplusbytes www.penplusbytes.org is a registered non profit since 18th July 2001. Vision "To be the leading institution for promoting effective governance using technology in Africa".

Monday, April 29, 2013

Maiden “Development through New Media Course” Held

Penplusbytes in partnership with Participatory DevelopmentAssociates (PDA) last week held the first session of the “Development through
New Media” course for individuals from government institutions, Civil Society
Organisations and private individuals.

The three day programme offered the participants an insight
on how to strategically use new media tools to promote one’s institution and
also effectively communicate with the organisations audience. The course involved the use of social media
tools such as Facebook, Twitter and the art of “Writing for the Web” for
advocacy, research and as a platform for knowledge exchange. In addition,
participants were taken through how to maintain their social media sites, create
active interactions and also engage their audience on social media.

Participants were drawn from the Judicial Service of Ghana
and Civil Society Organisations from both the Northern and Southern Sectors.

Madam Grace Tagoe, Director of Communications of the
Judicial Service and a beneficiary of the session said “the program has been
very useful and it is a commendable effort from the two institutions. We would
be grateful if it could be extended to other staff members of my organization.
As a communication expert, I believe adding social media as a means of
communication will increase my audience, as it will reach out to the online
community as well.”

Mr. Wisdom Vinyo from Toyace in the Volta region expressed
his excitement on the course, saying that “with the upsurge of online tools and
the rate of growth online, this course couldn’t have come at a better time.
Many of our programs at Toyace are targeted at the audience in the community
but with what I have learnt during this course, we will be able to reach out to other
CSOs online and channel efforts to get our voices heard online."

The “Development through new media” is aimed at providing
CSOs, government institutions, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises and
individuals with skills on how to plan and deploy a basic social media
communications strategy for their organizations to strengthen their capacity to
deliver vision and mission.It was
designed to help organisations understand social media and the principles and
dynamics that underpin it through a hands-on approach.